


The Back Corner

by wasterella



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-28
Updated: 2016-01-28
Packaged: 2018-05-16 19:12:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5837599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wasterella/pseuds/wasterella
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every day, Levi walks into the bar to see Eren, and every day he leaves feeling worse than he did when he entered.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Back Corner

**Author's Note:**

> Wrote this on my phone on the bus... Please excuse any glaring issues.
> 
> Disclaimer: SNK © Hajime Isayama
> 
> Additional Warning Tags at the end.

**The Back Corner.**

When the door to the large, boisterous establishment was opened, the first thing that hit him was the noise. It slammed into him with such force he felt the need to brace himself.

This was no different than any other night, but Levi Ackerman still found himself unable to get used to it. After living his entire life having to stay alert and on guard, the easiness of everyday life now was still hard to get used to.

Entering the bar, Levi nodded in greeting to the bartender before making a beeline for the back corner.

A solitary table waited for him there, a small “reserved” sign sitting atop it. He kept telling them not to do that, but they never seemed to listen.

Taking a seat in one of the old, creaky chairs, he shifted on the wood until he was comfortable and then shrugged out of his coat, draping it across the back of his own chair.

Then, he stared intently at the seat across from him, saying nothing and waiting.

It only took two minutes for Jean Kirschstein to wander over, depositing a bottle of beer in front of him.

“Hey Levi.”

“Jean,” he said in greeting.

His old comrade turned and walked away after this, the two of them having turned this into a pattern.

It had been five years since the walls had come down. Five years since the Titans had finally been defeated. Everyone had moved on, left the military, gotten on with their lives. The only hint of the past that remained was the Military Police.

There weren’t many jobs for soldiers, especially the ones who had been in the Survey Corps, but they made do. Levi worked at the border that separated what used to be Wall Rose and Wall Maria. It was a weird and uneventful job, ensuring people weren’t bringing in or taking out any region-specific goods. Nothing exciting.

Jean had opted for a bar, having bought and opened it with the help of his parents. They ran it as more of a diner during the day, but Jean took over at night and turned it into a veritable cesspool of rotten drunkards.

Given everything people had seen in their lifetimes, Levi understood the need to drink. It had taken him four years to finally hit a point where he could sit down and get wasted off his face. Not necessarily because he wanted to, he just _had_  to now. He had no other choice.

Setting his half-finished bottle down, he crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat, waiting. Always waiting. He turned to see where Jean had disappeared to and found him laughing jovially behind the bar, speaking to a girl who was very obviously flirting with him in order to obtain free drinks. No one could legitimately be interested in that horse.

Picking the bottle back up, he downed the rest of it and had barely set the empty one back on the table when one of the waitresses appeared beside him with a fresh one, handing it over and picking up the empty one before disappearing from sight.

It had been like that ever since Levi had become a regular. Jean’s doing, no doubt. “Make sure that guy’s beer is always full.”

He didn’t have to do it, but Levi appreciated it. And even though he was told he never had to pay, he paid anyway. It was Jean’s family’s livelihood, so he paid out of respect for his friend.

It was weird to consider Jean a friend, but after everything they’d been through, there was no other word for it. Except maybe brother, but he’d kill a brother as annoying as Jean. Besides, if Jean was a brother, that meant everyone in his unit was, which would make any sexual activities with any of them awkward.

He was half-way through his third beer when the fucking brat finally decided to show up.

“You’ve been drinking a lot lately.”

“You’re late,” he snapped in reply, watching Eren Jaeger shift in the chair across from him, evidently trying to get comfortable.

He wore no coat, as if the cold didn’t bother him, and settled himself opposite Levi with a smile.

“You didn’t answer me.”

“It wasn’t a question.” Levi took another sip of his drink, aware of Eren’s eyes on him. “No more Titans, my drinking habits are none of your concern.”

“Well, drinking affects your liver and Titans or not, I kind of want you to stick around. After what you’ve lived through, you deserve a long and happy life.”

Levi shot him a glare at those words but said nothing. He wasn’t going to get into his drinking habits with Eren. Not now.

Not when their time together was so limited day after day. Eren was taking longer and longer to show his stupid face, which meant their time together was getting shorter and shorter. It was almost like he did it on purpose.

“How’s work?” Eren asked.

“Boring.”

“Care to elaborate?”

“No.”

Eren sighed. “What’s the point of talking if all you do is sit there and brood?”

“I don’t brood,” he snapped, Jean returning with another bottle of beer. Before he could walk away, Levi turned to him. “I don’t brood.” It was a statement, not a question.

“You brood,” Jean replied, picking up the empty bottle and walking away without bothering to get Eren’s order.

The brunet rolled his eyes. “Never changes, does he?”

“Why would he?” Levi demanded, sipping at his new drink. He was feeling a definite buzz now, the effects of the alcohol finally kicking in more noticeably. He liked the period after the buzz.

Levi had quickly learned in the past year that he enjoyed being drunk a great deal.

“Levi?” Eren asked, forcing him to look up. “Are you okay? I mean, are things okay with you?”

“How can you ask me such a stupid question?” he demanded angrily, a few patrons turning at his raised voice. “Get your head outta your ass, Jaeger, and don’t ever ask me that again!”

“Right. Sorry.”

He’d upset him. Great. He had to stop wasting what little time they had together bitching him out like this.

He couldn’t help it. Force of habit.

Realizing his temper was already hitting its peak, that meant it was time to head home before he started a brawl. Jean never seemed to mind when he did, but Levi didn’t like being an inconvenience like that.

Finishing off his new beer much faster than was advised, Levi stood and grabbed his jacket, shrugging it back on and reaching for his wallet so he could leave money on the table.

“Leaving already?”

He avoided looking at Eren. He’d sounded so sad at the fact that Levi was already heading out.

“I have work.”

“Right.”

Still not looking at him, he said, “I’ll be back tomorrow. Same time. Same place.”

“You always are. I’ll try not to keep you waiting.”

Levi snorted at that, dropping a wad of cash onto the table and turning away to head for the exit.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, brat.”

* * *

 

Jean nodded to Levi when the other headed for the exit, waving one hand in departure. He watched the other head all the way to the door and then through it before sighing and setting down the drink he had just finished making.

One of the waitresses wandered over and handed him a wad of cash.

“Paid again.”

“Of course he did. Asshole needs to flaunt his wealth.”

That wasn’t true, but it pissed Jean off that Levi paid. He was the one person who was allowed in here without paying for anything, and yet he still did.

To be fair, Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert wouldn’t have to pay if they came in, but they never did.

Not anymore. They refused to step foot in there.

“Hey Jean?” the new guy on his left said, wandering closer to him while wiping his hands down the front of his pants. “Can I ask you something?”

“What’s up?” he asked, opening another beer and setting it on the counter for another customer, nodding in thanks at the cash handed over.

“That guy who just left, the one you told me could drink for free, who is he?”

Jean turned to the teen beside him. He was fairly young, he supposed. Too young to have been in anything other than the Training Corp, but Jean doubted he’d even applied there. Too much of a marshmallow.

“Who, the guy who sits at the back corner table?” When the other nodded, Jean sighed. “That’s Levi Ackerman.”

Instantly, the newbie’s eyes lit up like Jean had just introduced him to the king. He supposed to humanity, that may as well have been who he was. He was the one who’d saved them after all.

“No way!” he exclaimed excitedly, turning towards the door as though Levi were still there. “That was Humanity’s Strongest?!”

“Don’t call him that,” Jean snaped instantly. He winced at the startled look on the other’s face. “Sorry. He’s just a close friend and he doesn’t like being called that.”

“Why?”

 _Damn, newbie asks a lot of questions,_ Jean thought with a sigh.

“It’s a long story. Just please don’t call him that.”

“Okay.” The other shrugged and Jean turned back to start cleaning up his area but then he spoke again. Letting out a sigh, Jean turned back to Mr. Curious.

“So what’s his deal, anyway?”

“Deal?” Jean asked. “What do you mean?”

“Well, he comes in here every day and sits in that back corner by himself.” The other leaned closer to Jean, as if telling him a secret. Why he felt the need to whisper in a loud and chaotic bar, the ex-soldier had _no_  idea, but he leaned closer to ensure he heard him. “Sometimes I’ve even seen him sitting there talking to himself.”

Those words hurt, like a fist was clenching tightly around Jean’s heart. “He’s not talking to himself,” he whispered, his lowered voice more out of pain than out of secrecy. “He’s talking to Eren.”

“Eren?” the other asked, frowning in thought, as if recognizing the name.

“They used to sit there every day before going home together. Levi didn’t drink, but Eren did. Levi liked that, said it made the sex better.” Jean half-smiled at the memory, remembering how red Eren’s face had gotten at the words out of Levi’s mouth. It was like he had forgotten he was dating a blunt, crass asshole.

“The name rings a bell,” the newbie said thoughtfully. “Who’s Eren?”

Jean felt another stab of pain shoot through him and turned away, busying himself with cleaning up the counter space around him.

“You know that Titan shifter? The one who helped out with getting rid of the Titans?”

“Oh yeah! I remember him!” A pause. “Wasn’t he the one who got executed by the Military Police last year?”

“Yeah,” Jean said quietly, hands stilling. “That was him. That was Eren.”

He forced himself to keep moving, cleaning off the last of his area and beginning to collect empty glasses and bottles off the counter, putting them in the large tub below so they could either be washed or recycled.

“Levi can’t talk to him anymore. He comes here so he can go to the one place he knows Eren’s still around.”

“Where’s that?” the newbie asked, Jean bending down to pick up the tub.

He avoided the other’s gaze while walking past him so he could move into the back and have a moment to himself.

Levi wasn’t the only one who’d lost someone important when they had executed Eren.

“His head,” he answered, and disappeared through the door.

**END.**

**Author's Note:**

> Additional Tags: Major Character Death.


End file.
